Oommen Chandy indicted in Pattoor land scam case

Thiruvananthapuram: The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) on Saturday registered a case in the alleged land scam in Pattoor.

Former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has been named an accused in the case along with former chief secretary EK Bharath Bhushan and a realtor.

Earlier, the Vigilance court had criticised the VACB for not registering a case in the alleged land scam. The VACB had claimed that it did not register a case as the issue was being considered by the Lok Ayukta.

The new development is following a legal advice that there are no issues in registering of the case.

The VACB had in December 2015 launched a quick verification into the issue based on a petition by then Opposition leader VS Achuthanandan.

Achuthanandan in his petition alleged that Chandy and Bhushan connived with the builder to illegally appropriate public land at Pattoor.